Provost Candidate, Dr. Gail Mackin, to Visit Campus on March 28

The second provost candidate, Dr. Gail Mackin, will visit campus on Tuesday, March 28. A campus presentation beginning at 9:45 a.m. is open to faculty, staff and students to attend.

Dr. Gail Mackin received her BS in Mathematics and Physics from Keene State College and her MS and PhD in Mathematics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.  Gail has taught at several comprehensive universities, the most recent being Northern Kentucky University (NKU) where she spent 16 years as a member of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.  During this time, Gail taught a vast range of entry-level and upper-level mathematics courses including an interdisciplinary bio-mathematics modeling course co-taught with a peer from the department of Biological Sciences. She also mentored more than 50 students in undergraduate research and for the international COMAP mathematical modeling competition.

An applied mathematician, Gail focused her research on mathematical modeling in disciplines including continuum mechanics, ecology, and geology. Her interdisciplinary collaborations with local national and international colleagues afforded Gail opportunities to participate in field work on sedimentary source, transport and storage in South Africa and to introduce undergraduate students to mark and recapture techniques to determine the effects of fishing reserves within the reef systems of Belize. A dedicated teacher, undergraduate research mentor, and advisor, Gail was recognized by the Mathematical Association of America Kentucky Section with the Distinguished College or University Mathematics Teacher of the Year award.

While at NKU, Gail served in many capacities including Senior Associate Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences Faculty Senate member at large, Interim Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and Director and PI of Project SOAR, a National Science Foundation funded scholarship program for STEM majors with financial need.  While teaching, learning and student success were always a high priority, it was while mentoring more than 40 SOAR students over five years that Gail developed a deep commitment to access and equity in higher education. 

Gail has served in the Office of the Provost at Central  Washington University since 2017.  As the senior member of the Provost’s leadership team, Gail provides vision, support and direction for strategic planning, budgeting, new academic building projects, and special initiatives in support of faculty and staff professional development and student success for the Division of Academic Affairs. She has taken on additional leadership duties in her capacity as Vice Provost, serving as Interim Dean of the College of Education & Professional Studies and, currently, Interim Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research. Each role has increased Gail’s understanding of the interconnectedness of all university divisions and the importance of working to identify and minimize silos to have positive impacts on faculty, staff and students and rising above and beyond the goals set forth by the university’s mission and vision.  

Gail takes enormous pride in having successfully launched her two children, Hannah and Jack, and now lives with two feisty but affectionate cats. She spends her free time socializing with friends, hiking, skiing and playing tennis.